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Christ and the Lamb

A work made of gilded wood and mirror.

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  • A work made of gilded wood and mirror.

Date:

1988

Artist:

Jeff Koons
American, born 1955

About this artwork

Having turned to art after a brief stint as a Wall Street commodities trader, Jeff Koons creates beautifully crafted and often controversial sculptures. An elaborate, Rococostyle mirror, Christ and the Lambis also a visual puzzle: its frame shapes the mirror surface into the figure of the infant Jesus playing with a lamb, taken from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (1508; Musée du Louvre, Paris). Viewers thus see their own image superimposed on the body of the Christ Child. Koons has said, “Anything that reflects has a kind of spiritual transcendence because it involves the viewer. It acknowledges your presence. Every time you move, the reflection changes; it always acknowledges you.”

Status

On View, Gallery 295

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Jeff Koons

Title

Christ and the Lamb

Place

United States (Object made in:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1988

Medium

Gilded wood and mirror

Edition

1 of 3, plus 1 artist's proof

Dimensions

200.7 × 139.7 × 17.8 cm (79 × 55 × 7 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Edlis Neeson Collection

Reference Number

2015.140

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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